I’ll never, ever, ever complain of boredom again! I’ll never allow myself to daydream of adventure again! And I’ll not let go of David until we reach Stirling.
EIGHTEEN
Wee William and his men had been on their way south of Stirling in search of either Angus and Duncan or clues to their whereabouts when they came across a battle. They had heard the ruckus before they were able to see it. Were it not for the full moon that shone brilliantly across the glen, they would not have been able to recognize the fact that it was MacDougall men being attacked.
Wee William gave a command to Black Richard to call the men to arms before he let loose with a battle cry. Moments later, he and his men swarmed down the small hillside and into the glen to help defend their brethren.
They took the offenders by surprise long enough for Daniel and David and the thirty men who surrounded them to break away from the battle. Wee William was momentarily caught off guard when he saw David flying by him at breakneck speed, with a woman behind him, holding on for all she was worth.
Within a quarter of an hour, Wee William and the rest of the MacDougalls were able to bring the battle to an end. Before all was said and done, most of the attackers were dead or slowly on their way to meet their maker. A few however, had fled. Whether it be in fear or in retreat to shore up more men, he could not know, for he had idea no why they had been attacked.
The moon was making its way across the sky. Wee William finally found Ronald and explained that Angus and Duncan were missing and that they had only stumbled upon the battle because they were trying to find the missing men.
Ronald was able to bring Wee William quickly up to speed on why they were here, where they were heading and what may have been the reason for the attack. When Ronald finished giving Wee William the details he was privy to, Wee William stood dumbfounded. Hopeful, yet dumbfounded at the turn of events.
“Yer certain, Ronald?” he asked as he ran a hand through his long red brown hair.
“Aye, I am. I heard it with me own ears. I am assumin’ that David, Daniel, and Roy are takin’ the lass to Stirling. I can only pray that no one else tries to stop them.”
Wee William called after Black Richard. “See to our wounded, Black Richard. Do what ye can fer them. As to these bastards, let the wolves have them!”
Black Richard gave a quick nod of his head before setting off to tend to the injured. Wee William found his horse and mounted. “Ronald, ye and yers come with us,” he called out. “We must make certain the lady makes it to Stirling.”
“But what of Angus and Duncan? It could be that the same bastards who attacked us took Angus and Duncan as well,” Ronald said as he mounted his horse.
As Wee William saw it, he had only two choices. Wander the countryside in hopes of finding the two missing men only to come up empty handed. Or ensure that the lady made it to Stirling with the information that, if it didn’t keep Angus and Duncan from hanging, would at the very least clear their good names. He looked around the battlefield and took a quick head count. Not too many of the MacDougall warriors had been wounded, at least not in comparison to the dead and injured offenders.
Wee William called out to Black Richard again. “Black Richard! When ye are done, continue to look for Angus and Duncan. And if ye find them, get them to Stirling as quickly as possible.”
With the information that Ronald had given him, Wee William no longer dreaded getting his chief and friend to Stirling. At the moment, it might be the only safe place for any of them.
Taking no time to look back, Daniel, his men and Lady Arline tore across the glen. There was no way to avoid traveling through the forest that lay ahead. Going around it would put them further away from Stirling and closer to the assassins.
And assassins they were, of that, Daniel had no doubt.
Determinedly, Daniel led the group through the forest as fast as the terrain would allow. Occasionally, he would glance over his shoulder to see if anyone followed. He would not allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief until they were safely within the confines of Stirling Castle.
Lady Arline still clung to David, with her eyes closed tightly. For a gently born woman, she was handling herself quite well.
Anger formed deep in Daniel’s gut as they ripped through the trees.
Greed. Whether it was the desire to amass power or money, it mattered not. A man could go mad for the want of those things. It was greed, plain and simple, that had put the proverbial nooses around Angus and Duncan’s necks. It also put his own life, as well as the lives of his men and Lady Arline, in grave danger this night.
Come hell or high water, they would see that Lady Arline arrived safely in Stirling. Not only did the lives of Angus and Duncan depend upon her safe arrival, it was now quite evident that her own life depended upon it as well.
NINETEEN
It took Daniel a moment or two to realize it was Wee William’s voice he heard booming through the night air. Daniel and his men spun around to meet Wee William and his men at the edge of the forest. The night sky was just beginning to wane. Dawn would be there soon enough.
“We’ll talk while we ride, Wee William,” Daniel told him. “We have to be at Stirling Castle before dawn breaks.”
Both men looked east toward the horizon. Stirling Castle lay that way, just a few miles from where they stood. Their horses were covered in sweat, lathered and gnarled from the long ride and the battle fought earlier. Daniel worried that the horses would expire before they reached their destination.
Wee William nodded, sat taller in his saddle and raised his arm. He called out for his men to follow and a moment later, they were running like the devil was chasing them.
Daniel explained to Wee William the identity of the terrified lass clinging to David. Peeking through one eye, Lady Arline gave a curt nod of her head in Wee William’s direction. Formalities be damned. She was not about to let go of David for fear they would fly through the air again. She was certain that her luck would not hold and the next time they jumped over something she would be tossed from the back of the horse.
A light mist clung to their skin and clothes. They were beyond damp from all the rain and streams they had ridden through. Arline knew she looked a mess and smelled even worse. She continued to make bargains with God. If He would allow her to live through this ordeal, she would never again complain of anything. She would be forever grateful for warm clothes, low burning fires, and even porridge.
As Arline made her bargains, Daniel and Wee William filled each other in on everything that had happened since they’d left Castle Gregor a fortnight ago. Wee William was just as surprised as Daniel and the others had been when they had learned what Carlich Lindsay had told them and what his wife now had in her possession.
After learning that the items Arline had hidden in her skirts might be just what was needed to keep Angus and Duncan from hanging, Wee William felt a sudden spurt of energy. Hope began to trickle back into his heart as they pounded across the land.
Wee William informed Daniel that the wagon bringing Angus and Duncan to Stirling had been set upon and that the two men had been captured. Now Daniel had something else to worry over.
They might make it to Stirling with the documents that would set the two men free but now, their futures looked even bleaker. Without knowing who had taken them and why, they were left with nothing but conjecture and guesses. Angus and Duncan could be anywhere by now. They could very well be dead.
And they still had no bloody idea where Isobel and Aishlinn were.
A spot on the horizon beckoned, urging them forward. Stirling Castle. They would be there soon, would deliver the documents to Robert Stewart, and then leave to join the search for Angus and Duncan.
They could only hope that mayhap someone in Stirling knew where Isobel and Aishlinn were. They could only pray that whoever had taken Angus and Duncan had not killed them yet.
They were far from being able to rest easy or have any sense of relief. The going back and
forth between hope and despair made Daniel feel as though he were awash at sea, being carried to wherever the waves wished to take him.
Aye, the hanging delayed meant little to any of them for who knew what the dawn would bring with it.
TWENTY
Bree shook her head in complete disappointment. Her heart ached with guilt that she was actually taking her father and Duncan to Stirling. Reluctantly, she had surrendered to the arguments her father and Duncan had made. If they did not appear before Robert Stewart then it was quite possible that Isobel and Aishlinn would die, along with many others. No matter which way she looked at it, she would lose a parent.
If she refused to take her father to Stirling and Isobel and Aishlinn died, he would never forgive her and she’d never be able to forgive herself. The only way to keep Isobel and Aishlinn safe was to sacrifice the lives of her father and brother.
Och! How she wished Nial were with her. Aye, he would be more than angry that she had risked life and limb to rescue her father and Duncan. But she knew he would eventually forgive her for taking such a tremendous risk.
Her life, until Caelen McDunnah arrived at the McKee keep a week ago, had been blessed beyond comprehension. Nial loved her deeply, wholly, and passionately, without reserve. He was completely devoted to her. She had a beautiful son, a family she adored and loved, and a nice home. She wanted for nothing.
Now, her world was falling apart at her feet and she had never felt more alone. Emptiness had settled into her heart and she knew that her life had been forever altered. And for what? For one man’s greed and need of power and another’s sense of honor and duty.
That her father and brother were now willing to sacrifice their own lives in order that their wives would live was honorable. But now Bree knew the truth. It was not just for Isobel and Aishlinn that they were going willingly to the hangman’s noose. It was for the good of their country.
She cast a glance at her father as they rode quietly toward Stirling in the wee hours just before dawn. Aye, she would take her father to Stirling, but she was in no hurry to make certain he arrived in time to hang.
Angus sat tall and proud in his saddle. Even with his filthy, tattered clothes, and the dirt that came from living in a dungeon these past weeks, he looked a formidable man. Bree choked on tears she refused to shed. She would not allow her father to see her cry. Come dawn, he would hang.
Robert and Collin rode ahead, next to Duncan. Bree kept to the rear, near her father. There were still so many questions she wanted to ask him but she doubted she had the strength to hear his answers.
Why he had done what he had done no longer mattered. When she had looked him straight in his eyes as he confessed all to her, she could detect no dishonesty on his part. Angus had bared his soul to her, had told her everything, the whole, sordid, ugly truth.
The only comfort she had was learning that Duncan had not been a part of this hideous scheme until the very end. Duncan had done what he had in the hopes that things would sort themselves out soon and in the end the truth would come to light. That hadn’t happened and now it did not appear as though it would happen at all.
“Say what’s on yer mind, lass,” Angus said without looking at her.
Bree took a deep breath. She wanted to rant and rave, to scream, mayhap even to beat him over the head with a tree branch. She wanted to cry, to wail, to ask why. No child ever had a better father than she. No father ever looked upon his daughter with the adoration that Angus had with her. Even when she tried his patience, he had displayed nothing but patience.
Angus had taught her to defend herself, to think on her feet, and always help those who were less fortunate than she. In essence, he had been the perfect father to her, the perfect chief to their clan and the perfect husband to her mother.
Mayhap that was the problem. For her entire life she had held her father in such high esteem, had painted him as nothing less than perfect, even when he tried her patience. She had made him a god among men. Idolized him. And for the first time in her life, he had let her down. And not gently mind you. Angus McKenna was not as perfect as she had made him out to be. He was human.
“I love ye, da,” she said sincerely. “No matter what happens on the morrow, I want ye never to ferget that.”
Angus was quiet for a few moments, keeping his eyes on the land before him. “No man could ever have asked fer a better daughter than ye,” he said. Bree noticed the slight break in his voice, as if he were choking back tears. “Never ferget that I was always proud of ye. Even when ye acted stubborn like yer mum.”
Bree snorted softly at the mention of her mother. She knew her father was attempting to lighten the solemnity of the moment. “’Tis a good thing I have her temperament.”
He finally turned to look at her. With a raised brow he asked, “Aye? Why is that?”
She looked ahead and smiled. “Fer if I had yer temper, ye’d have a verra bloody skull right now.”
Angus chuckled and looked away. Bree had seen the moisture in his eyes when he had looked at her. It was that look, the look of pride and admiration that nearly did her in. No matter what he had or had not done, he was going to his death loving her. She would not allow him to go thinking she was ashamed of him.
The seriousness of the moment hit her with such force that it was all she could do to keep her seat. Never in her life had she felt such anguish or grief. She choked on her tears and did her best to maintain some of her dignity.
When she realized what they were truly discussing, she could not stop a few of her tears from escaping. The seriousness of it all, the solemn, grave truth of it was like a slap to her face. They were saying their goodbyes.
TWENTY-ONE
Unbeknownst to either the MacDougalls or those who had attacked them, there were other individuals near the glen that night. From the line of trees to the north of the melee, ten men silently watched as the violence erupted in the glen before them.
The silent watchers knew all about the MacDougalls and their mission. They also knew who it was that launched the flaming arrows and why.
Just as the MacDougalls’ mission was to take Lady Arline to Stirling, the watchers were there to make certain that mission was accomplished. No one would think anything of the MacDougalls riding hell-bent-for-leather across the country trying to save their chief’s neck. But ten strange men in black would have brought forth unwanted attention. Attention they could ill afford.
So the watchers, who lived in the shadows like apparitions, would not make their presence known. Anonymity was vital to their success as well as their lives.
The watchers had no wives, no children and no family but each other. They had sworn an allegiance, not to their king or their country, but to each other, much like King Arthur’s legendary knights. Their fealty was to one another and an ideal, a pledge to defend against evil. They did not work for gold, fame, or fortune. Nay, it was far more sublime than that.
They trusted no one save for each other and the man who helped support their cause, the only other man on the earth who even knew of their existence.
They wore unremarkable clothing under their black cloaks. It made them look more like simple farmers than highly skilled warriors. Watching the attack unfold before them, they were just about to remove their black cloaks and come to the aid of the MacDougalls when they saw a large group of men approaching from the east. The leader of the watchers was about to call his men to arms when he realized it was more MacDougalls coming to the rescue. They also saw that Lady Arline was being whisked away to safety.
So they remained hidden and waited. The MacDougalls made quick work of their attackers and soon, the entire ordeal was over. The leader hoped that the MacDougalls wouldn’t take time to bury the dead or question the living. He needed at least one of the living -- preferably one who did not like the idea of dying a slow, agonizing death and would gladly trade information for his life.
The leader sent five of his men to follow after Lady Arline, and two to sea
rch the area to see if they could perchance find a camp or more men sent to attack the MacDougalls. They had been searching for one man in particular for many days now. He supposed it was too much to hope that the bastard now lay among the injured. He could only pray that the MacDougalls would not recognize the man in question. He needed the man alive.
He had to make a decision and make it quickly. He could not risk the MacDougalls recognizing anyone. “We will need to go in,” he whispered hurriedly to the man next to him.
Moments later, they were tucking their cloaks into their saddle bags and heading down toward the glen looking like nothing more than innocent farmers heading to Stirling for the festivities.
TWENTY-TWO
Wee William, Daniel, David and the rest of the MacDougall warriors made their way through the busy streets of Stirling. Although word had spread that Angus and Duncan had escaped -- or had been abducted -- it depended on which side of the fence you stood -- there were still hundreds upon hundreds of people milling about the streets. Mayhap people kept close to the gallows in hopes of seeing someone hanged this day. After all, many had travelled great distances just to say they were there they day they hung Angus McKenna.
McKenna's Honor, a Novella, Book Four of the Clan MacDougall Series Page 11
